What's it about?
A white collar criminal fakes insanity to avoid prison, but ends up getting remanded to Arkham Asylum -- home to many of Batman's Rogues Gallery -- instead.
I'm a huge fan of super-villains -- when they're done right.
Here, they're done right.
Dan Slott and Ryan Sook are kicking ass on this tale of super-villains and maniacs within the walls of DC's most infamous psychiatric center. This series, to me, really came out of nowhere. I had heard about it here and there, and when I saw the covers to issues 1 and 2, I was intrigued. Ryan Sook has always been a huge unrecognized talent (who's going to explode on Detective Comics), and Dan Slott is known for his DCU animated books.
The first thing that comes to mind when I think back on the first two issues of this book is the mood and tone. Ryan captures it with every panel, every character. His Two-Face in particular is fantastic, and his designs for Humpty Dumpty and the other new citizens of Arkham are scary as all hell. That character alone, Humpty Dumpty, has instantly grabbed my attention. I'm anxiously awaiting more of his story in issue #3. A man who breaks things and tries to put them back together again...cool.
Dan has done a brilliant job scripting, from the introduction and twist on the new female villain, Jane Doe, to the personalities laced within the scenes involving Scarecrow, Joker and the Mad Hatter. The white collar criminal -- once dubbed the Great White Shark, now dubbed Fish -- is reminiscent of Tobias Beecher in Oz, that is, a normal man getting a dose of reality and insanity with his introduction into Arkham. I'm really looking to seeing how this plays out.
The only thing I'd like to see with this book, guys? Make it an ongoing monthly.
